Edina Braemar Arena expansion passed in record tiime

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http://edina.patch.com/articles/3-6-mil ... tc00000001

$3.6M Braemar Arena Expansion Gets Green Light
Private donations totaling $800,000 are financing a substantial amount of the costly project.


$3.65 million expansion at Braemar Arena—dubbed the Hornets' Nest—has been given the go-ahead by both the Edina City Council and School Board.

The 26,450-square-foot addition will be located just north of Braemar Arena's west rink. In addition to creating permanent locker rooms for Edina High School's boys and girls varsity and JV hockey teams, the two-level building is set to feature dry-land training facilities and 3,000 square feet of retail space.

The project will also see some improvements made to the rest of the arena, including an ADA-compliant pathway, a new railing section inside of the arena and an expansion of the main lobby. Everything is expected to be completed by Dec. 1, 2012.

Drive for the Hive, a nonprofit organization that originally proposed the expansion, secured $800,000 in private donations from the community to help fund the project. The city will foot the remaining $2.8 million.

The city will retain all branding decisions and naming rights in the arena as well as control of vending machines, though Drive for the Hive was allowed to sell naming rights to some interior space as part of their fundraising campaign.

Mayor Jim Hovland said the notion of public-private partnerships is an interesting concept for Edina, noting similar agreements could help bring other facilities up to snuff.

"We need first-rate facilities," Hovland said. "It's an Edina tradition that things are first-rate here for our kids, for our families. This is going to put us back at the top of the world of hockey and I think it'll be a great benefit to the people in our town."

The City Council unanimously approved an agreement with Drive for the Hive last week, including a facility use agreement with the school district, commercial tenant leases and approval of a construction bid to RJM Construction. RJM recently handled the expansion at the Southdale YMCA and also built a third skating rink at the Eden Prairie Community Center.

The School Board considered a facility use agreement on Monday, July 23, unanimously approving it without any major debate.

It's estimated the new agreement will cost the district an additional $11,433 annually—through custodial costs and utility fees for the locker rooms—paid to the City of Edina.

Superintendent Ric Dressen said most of that $11,433 will be borne by the district's athletic department, largely through ticket sales, with staff "working on creative solutions."

"It will enhance the programs for boys and girls hockey," Dressen said. "It's a really good advancement for the program and our community. We thank our private donors as well as the city and community for this."

The city and school district also agreed to split box office profits 50/50 for the next eight years, a slight change from past practices. The city typically would provide free ice to the teams during conference play, but would then take 70 percent of ticket sales in exchange. The new agreement will see the two entities split profits right down the middle, with Edina High School paying for any ice time they use.

Eric Anderson, who has been the public face of Drive for the Hive, also agreed to serve as the city's construction advisor during the project.

Contracts for the expansion's retail space have already been drawn up, one with General Sports and the other to Velocity Hockey. Both are 10-year deals, with General Sports paying $60,000 annually and Velocity Hockey set to pay $92,475 per year.

Council members were somewhat hesitant to move forward with the project without long-term guarantees from General Sports or Velocity Hockey in case they default on their respective leases, but ultimately decided it wasn't enough of a gamble to kill the project.

City Manager Scott Neal admitted it would be better to have long-term guarantees from the tenants, but said the city does have other sources of revenue—profits from municipal liquor stores, for one—to help offset their rent if something should happen.

"In terms of tenants in the retail sectors we're looking for, these are probably the two best tenants we could hope to get there," Neal said.

The Edina Hockey Association and the Braemar-City of Lakes Figure Skating Club both agreed to an additional $20 surcharge per player, per year for the life of the 20-year bonds. Those surcharges are expected to bring in around $29,000 annually.

Even with the added expenses associated with the project, city officials believe they'll see a positive cash flow every year for the duration of the bonds. Bond payments will hover in the neighborhood of $165,000 for the first four years, though the city predicts $181,475 in additional revenue every year due to the upgrades.

On top of that, arena management said they could see as much as $30,000 in new profit as a result of additional ice rental time.